Big increase in coronavirus clusters in south region

There has been a big increase in the number of clusters/outbreaks of Covid-19 being reported in the HSE South, which includes Cork and Kerry, new figures show.

Data published yesterday by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows 34 clusters/outbreaks of Covid-19 were reported in the region by midnight on Saturday, an increase of seven clusters on the previous day. 

The number of clusters/outbreaks reported in nursing homes jumped from one to three from Friday to Saturday.

There were also increases in clusters reported in settings such as hospitals, private houses, residential institutions, and community hospital/long stay units.

Of the 34 clusters reported, there were six clusters reported in hospitals and six clusters in private houses. 

Five clusters related to travel, four clusters were in residential institutions, three clusters were in community hospital/long-stay units, three clusters were in nursing homes, two clusters were reported in workplaces, and two clusters were related to ‘extended family’.

Yesterday, it was revealed that more than 200 people with Covid-19 in Ireland have now died.

The National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed an additional 36 people had died, bringing the total number of deaths to 210.

This is the highest number of deaths reported in a single day.